A pension for those seriously injured during the Troubles

Repairing the past - Dr Luke Moffett (QUB)

Victims who have been seriously injured during the Troubles/conflict in and around Northern Ireland have often been forgotten in redressing their daily suffering when dealing with the past. Many continue to live with debilitating injuries and chronic pain, facing financial insecurity and failing health as they enter old age. A pension for seriously injured victims has been suggested in the Stormont House Agreement, to alleviate their continuing suffering. To bring this into law, a current private member’s bill aims to secure a pension for those seriously injured through the Northern Ireland Assembly. This presentation seeks to provide some context and possible legal options in addressing who is eligible to claim such reparations and how to deal with individuals with a criminal record who were seriously injured in Northern Ireland. The presentation draws upon the experience of other countries in how they have delivered reparations to seriously injured victims and dealt with seriously injured perpetrators, as well as legal requirements under European directives and case law from the European Court and Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This research is based on comparative legal analysis of reparation laws in different contexts, work on reparations with different victim groups in Northern Ireland, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, and the International Criminal Court.